[WhiteKnight]

Hi,

Was reading http://www.bsmotoring.com/2006/apr08_1.htm, and thinking on how a similar system can help Indian cities, especially Bangalore

For those who do not want to read,

The concept is very simple. A city should take care of all its people- not the elite` alone. So, in comes a public transport system which is cheap to install and operate, and easily accessibile- The Buses.

Now, please don't stare. Curitiba (in south-eastern Brazil) and Bogotá (the capital of Colombia ) have implemented bus based system soeffectively, that majority stopped using cars. Heard that Bangkok is doing feasibility study in this line.

The advantages are obvious-
No need for big flyovers broader roads.
Less pollution, Less traffic

In Bangalore, the recently introduced Volvo city buses are a great hit. they are fast, clean and stylish and they do appear on time

How does it help us? We get empty roads to blast!!
So what is the plan?

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

In Bangalore, the recently introduced Volvo city buses are a great hit. they are fast, clean and stylish and they do appear on time

How does it help us? We get empty roads to blast!!
So what is the plan?

I would consider using them if it stopped near my office and is on time

[navin]

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

The concept is very simple. A city should take care of all its people- not the elite` alone. So, in comes a public transport system which is cheap to install and operate, and easily accessibile- The Buses.

In Bangalore, the recently introduced Volvo city buses are a great hit. they are fast, clean and stylish and they do appear on time

How does it help us? We get empty roads to blast!!

However guys like me might dump their chauffers and drive and then the traffic will be back.! :-) LOL

What we need is a good public transprt system (akin to other major cities - Frankfurt, London, Singapore, New York etc..) combined with serious ramifications for those who drive their cars (10x the parking charges, rush hours should be 2 Pax+ (3 and above), Municipal Vehicles should finish their duties before 8am or after 8pm, Schools should start at 8am and finish at 3pm this way these buses are off the road by 7-8am and 3-4pm, etc..).

Ideally one should not have to travel more than 20 min each way to work, school, etc... anymore is a waste of time.

Schools should hence accpet admissions only ina 3-4km radius - in Mumbai for exmaple schools in Bandra are accepting children from VIkhroli and CUffe Parade a more than 20 km radius)

Garbage collection workers should work in 2 shifts
1. 4am-8am external ditues and 8am-noon internal duties and then
2. 8pm-midnight external duites and midnight-4am internal duties (icalled the graveyeard shift).

Taxis should be housed in Park Houses which are wired with a PA system and dispatcher. A GPS can be added later.

[vinod]

Interesting Idea. However, the main thing right now is to see how cost effective this kind of system will be in India. Especially, with oil prices sky rocketing all the time, the cost of implementinig, running, and maintaing such a system might be very high. It worked for the south american countries siince they have easy acess to cheap oil. Moreover, the cost of pollution might increase as well.

[WhiteKnight]

Originally Posted by ajmal

I would consider using them if it stopped near my office and is on time

I agree. The key would be accessibility and on time performance

Originally Posted by navin

However guys like me might dump their chauffers and drive and then the traffic will be back.! :-) LOL

Thats my hidden agenda too!!!

Originally Posted by vinod

Interesting Idea. However, the main thing right now is to see how cost effective this kind of system will be in India. Especially, with oil prices sky rocketing all the time, the cost of implementinig, running, and maintaing such a system might be very high. It worked for the south american countries siince they have easy acess to cheap oil. Moreover, the cost of pollution might increase as well.

One key supporting factor should be the cost effectiveness. The buses should be on CNG, which is cheaper and cleaner. Also we are comparing with cost of monorails, underground rails, cost of overhauling roads to handle increasing traffic (How far can we keep broadening roads?). The initial investment here would be on buses, bus bays and waiting rooms and bus bay based parking space for cars, bikes and ye cycles!!

Yep, there are challenges

[sanjugun]

havent u guys heard about HCBS(high capacity bus service) in delhi.already 6 or 7 seven buses are plying.these buses are 12 meter long ,low floor,cng powered.also heard plans about having separate lanes for these buses.plan is to complete all this before commonwealth games. hopefully

[hell_raiser]

The cities quoted above(Bogota and Curitiba , also )are definitly doing very well with their bus rapid systems due to the following reasons. Also given is the comparison for the Pune BRT.

1) They were very well researched and implemented. They were implemented on roads where it was known that a regular bus schedule would dissuade many private car owners to switch over. Also it was seen that the BRT system does not take up any space on the congested roads and new roads were built wherever possible.

However, the major route is the katraj to swar gate in pune which is approxiamtely 6 kms long. People generally want to go further and there is no proper connections to other parts of the city. Hence private vehicle owners still prefer their own vehicles.

2) The fare was nominally higher than the existing system.

In pune this is the case.

3) The bus stops were at regular intervals and in places with heavy human traffic.

The bus stops are more or less very conviniently located. But due to no road use sense in India the road crossing is very dangerous.

4) The drivers have strict instructions for stopping points at bus stops to speed the ingress of the passengers. They were also asked to stick to their schedule and not compete within themselves for overtaking where possible.

However, in Pune we get drivers with no sense overtaking and jumping signals even when they have their own lanes. Pedesreians crossing the streets are the least of their problems.

5) Buses run as per a strict timetable.
In pune, this is a laugh with the buses starting from their depots on time and then the schedule goes haywire. It is a free for all. Luckily the PMT has not even put up any sort of schedule at the bus stops. Usually the bus lane remains empty for 15 20 mins. and then you get 4-5 buses together. Usually 2-3 are for the same destination.

6) Effectively reducing other road users by providing feeder systems.

In pune there is no feeder system and people in areas around the bus stop have to walk more than a KM to get to the bus stop. And not only has the number of road users not gone down but the number of lanes for traffic have decreased leaving severe chock points along the route.


sorry for the late restart, just found it so wrote in as i did not want to start a new thread.

[maktags]

Considering all the mess and poor PR that the Delhi BRT is generating, IMO rest of the metros in India dare not venture a BRT corridor now. However concept itself is not flawed, implementation is.

I passed through the treacherous Chirag Dilli stretch yesterday and traffic though bad was not the worst either. However seem to follow a 'BhedChaal' and one biker jumped over into the Bus Lane and was followed by atleast 20 more bikers and a few autowallahas. All hell broke loose and within minutes everything was chaotic, few bikers were fined by traffic police, so they wanted to come come back to main stretch, others who were already there will not allow them and utter confusion and chaos prevailed.

Hence I would say that its not only poor planning which is creating the chaos at BRT corridor but also extremely poor traffic and civic sense among the drivers.

[spadival]

They should use road trains like they have in Australia (to transport cattle) Road train - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

With our traffic (non)sense and disipline, We dont deserve anything better !!

[Mission_Safari]

A plan for BRTS is being worked out along the Cooum (Buckingham canal?) in Chennai from Adyar to Porur. If this materializes this will be a big boon to chennai.

BRTS will definetely save our cities. Wherever possible we must have the BRTS to ease the traffic even if it connects only shorter points.

[spadival]

Along coovam?? Will they provide those clothsline clips for the nose? You can smell the coovam from a mile away!!

[iraghava]

From the looks of the Delhi BRT corridor this is only going to be a massive disaster. Both of the traffic situation as it gets worse than ever & also massive wastage of public funds.

[phamilyman]

Complete and utter chaos it is.

I stay very close to the start point - Ambedkar nagar. What used to be a MAX 1 min crossing in the worst of times, is a minimum 2-3 min job. Plus from mehrauli side we've spent 30+ minutes on the same eff-ing intersection. Total madness in terms of planning - the contractors are COMPLETE THIEVES.

First the BRT cuts available road width in half, and then just short of it, some arbit agency digs up the whole road - enough ONLY for a bus to pass through (versus 3+ original lanes) - three weeks down - their work is incomplete, and construction material is still lying around. To make it worse, buses still park around the area, leaving very little space for actual traffic flow.

ofc, as a biker, I just ride over the construction material, but if inside car, I get stuck The rest of it is a complete nightmare. I have given up on the existence of chirag dilli on the map.

[WhiteKnight]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

First the BRT cuts available road width in half, and then just short of it, some arbit agency digs up the whole road - enough ONLY for a bus to pass through (versus 3+ original lanes) - three weeks down - their work is incomplete, and construction material is still lying around. To make it worse, buses still park around the area, leaving very little space for actual traffic flow.

Very sad state of affairs. Instead of India shining, India poised etal, we need "India Simplified". Put the responsibility on the right authority and pull them by the collar, if they fail

Heard that anyone digging up roads in Hyderabad must cover it up within 24 hrs, else his head goes to the chopping block. Not sure how far true.

[cediafan]

I visited Pune recently and the BRT system that they have there is a disaster. They have blocked off a lane only for buses. Many a times these lanes are empty and the other lanes are jam packed. People enter these lanes and flouting rules.
This can be successful only of the number of buses plying on these lanes are increased significantly.